I have been blessed with one of those rare events that can occasionally happen in social media. I’ve actually been able to share a real cup of coffee with a real live human being I met through Twitter. This past December I got to meet Moe Vivas at a Starbucks in NYC. It was beautiful to hear the real voice behind the writing I had been following. I know today’s post will be a source of strong encouragement to The Flock . ~Carissa
Triumph, Renewal and Rebirth
Image credit: Bryan Wintersteen http://www.sxc.hu/profile/winterb6
While sin gave us a life-sentence that we couldn’t reverse, Jesus, through His death and resurrection, gives us a living hope. Not just any hope, but a living one. One we can gamble on and know with certainty that it has a guarantee victory.
What the resurrection of our Lord has done is transform us through the new birth. We are now new creatures and have received the blessed gift of adoption. With it comes the triumph which is clearly seen with the promised inheritance which cannot perish, but is reserved, protected, assured by God himself. And we would do well to remember that God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Unlike us humans, God is faithful, always faithful, even when we’re not.
And though we still suffer, struggle and are exposed to pain and suffering, we accept that we will not be conformed to this world. We have higher expectations and we see how the Spirit transforms us by the renewing of our mind. We begin to prove what the will of God is and accept that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
And here’s where we come together and accept with joyful hearts the rebirth, renewal and the triumph of Christ. We look to Him, the author and perfecter of our faith while our hearts cry out in celebration,
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5)
Anytime you feel a bit down, remember His promise. Accept it, hold on to it, because it’s yours! Victory is our Lord’s, victory is ours!